Archive for July 26, 2007

The 2nd annual Bada Bling weekend for charity hosted by the Chris Webber Foundation in Las Vegas happened to be one of the most incredible weekends fit for royalty. From the cream 2008 Escalades that chauffeurred everyone in attendance to and from the airport, to the weekend’s swank highlight, The Soiree’, hosted by funny man Charlie Murphy, everything was top notch and white carpet tight. The weekend kicked off Friday evening with a charity poker tournament that included everyone from Rip Hamilton of the Detroit Pistons to last year’s winner Miss California, Tamiko Nash. Hip Hop poet Nas, comics Charlie Murphy and Marc Curry, boxer Zab Judah, model/actress Claudia Jordan and a bevy of athletes and entertainers rounded out those who chose to spectate and mingle with their celebrity peers. The night concluded with a sick welcoming party at club OPM. Doug E. Fresh and Slick Rick the Ruler performed their all time classics with old school tracks spun by Biz Markie.

A lot of ground to cover, but below I’ll cover the ESPN town hall on Barry Bonds in some depth.

It’s been a crazy few days in the world of sports. Last week, in a post about ESPN, I complained about the police-blotter approach so common these days in sports journalism. That was after the Vick indictment, but before the Tim Donaghy investigation became public knowledge. Those two newsmaking events, plus the ongoing homerun chase, featuring the intensely polarizing would-be king, Barry Bonds, still the subject of an endless grand jury investigation, has led many sports commentators the past few days to wonder which of the three major commissioners has it roughest right now. There’s an obvious answer – David Stern faces a threat to the integrity of his sport in a way that neither Roger Goddell or Bud Selig does. But, it’s all a dream come true, in a way, for sports media, as July is generally lamented as a slow sports month, and if you’re not a baseball fan, it’s the month many sports fans consider the worst of the year. With basketball in the rearview mirror and football tantalizingly close but still not under way, July is purgatory for the sports news cycle. Until this week, anyway.